News and Society in the Greek PolisDuckworth, 1996 - 206 pages Sian Lewis explores the role of news and information in shaping Greek society from the sixth to the fourth centuries, b.c. Applying ideas from the study of modern media to her analysis of the functions of gossip, travel, messengers, inscriptions, and institutions in the polis, she demonstrates that news was a vital concern for the ancient Greeks. Specifically, the acquisition and exchange of information played a key role in determining status and power. Proceeding from a discussion of individual citizens involved in the exchange of news to an account of more complex forms of communication organized by the polis, Lewis traces the role of what we call news in a culture that was primarily oral. She contrasts the informal exchanges that occurred among travelers and merchants with the official announcements made by heralds and envoys. She also analyzes the motives behind such official announcements and the ways in which the authorities exerted control over the flow of information. Finally, she reconsiders the role of the political assembly and the origins of the public inscription, which has until now been assumed to have been the primary source of news for Greek citizens. Not for sale in the British Commonwealth except Canada or in Europe |
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Page 50
... polis , Greek writers sought to minimise this mobility , preferring the idea that the citizen was closely tied to his land and city , even in a polis as open as Athens . * The evidence does not support the claim that only the rich ...
... polis , Greek writers sought to minimise this mobility , preferring the idea that the citizen was closely tied to his land and city , even in a polis as open as Athens . * The evidence does not support the claim that only the rich ...
Page 52
... polis , and outside it : I shall consider these in turn . 1. Heralds inside the polis The herald in Greece held a clearly - defined and important position within the polis from an early period . In some poleis the office of herald was ...
... polis , and outside it : I shall consider these in turn . 1. Heralds inside the polis The herald in Greece held a clearly - defined and important position within the polis from an early period . In some poleis the office of herald was ...
Page 157
Sian Lewis. was to create systems to integrate these individuals temporarily into the polis . Institutions such as the proxenia allowed the traveller or chance messenger to gain some connection with the polis , making clear the element of ...
Sian Lewis. was to create systems to integrate these individuals temporarily into the polis . Institutions such as the proxenia allowed the traveller or chance messenger to gain some connection with the polis , making clear the element of ...
Contents
News Within the Community | 9 |
News Independent of the Polis | 25 |
Official Communications | 51 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
accusations Acharnians Agesilaos Agora Aischines Akropolis Alkibiades ancient ancient Greece Andokides announcement Aristophanes Aristotle army assembly Athenaion Politeia Athenian Athens Attika Boule Cambridge centre character citizens claims communication concern debate decision decree deme democracy demos Demosthenes Diodoros discussed dissemination Ekklesiazusai emphasises envoys Euripides example fact festivals foreign fourth century gossip Greece Greek Greek poleis Greek world herald Herodas Herodotos honour Ibid idea IG iiĀ² important individual inscribed inscriptions instance Iphigeneia in Tauris Isokrates kind king letter Literacy Lykourgos Lysias Macedonian Megara messenger military motive Mytilene Nikias official Olympia oral orators Pausanias Persian Philip Plutarch poleis polis Political Intelligence proxenia proxenos prytaneis received records role rumour secrecy secret seen sent slaves Sokrates sources Spartan speaker speeches spread Starr status stele story suggests Syracusan Themistokles Theophrastos Theramenes Thucydides tion traders treaties trierarchs women writing written Xenophon Hellenika